Kristie Sams-Faulkner could count the number of toys she received as a child for Christmas on one hand.

 Her childhood was chaotic. She lived in 11 foster homes throughout the years as her parents fought an addiction to crank, a drug similar to methamphetamine.

She does not have cherished Christmas memories. Her memories are of neglect and the sexual abuse she endured at the hands of three relatives.

Sams-Faulkner does not focus on the sadness of her early life. She has used those experiences to reach out to foster children through a Huntley-based organization she co-founded with her friend, Maebelle Obispo-Emery, called It's Our Little Secret.

The two Huntley women want to give foster children a memorable Christmas so It's Our Little Secret(IOLS) is holding a toy drive hoping to get 16,000 toys donated for children within the state's foster care system.

A storefront on Route 47 serves as headquarters for the toy drive. Sams-Faulkner recently walked through the office, leafing through a stack of papers with the names and wish lists of children. The lists sometimes have things that one wouldn't expect a child to request. Bed sheets. A coat. Children in and out of foster care grow up fast, Sams-Faulkner said.

"It's humbling," she said of reading the lists. If a child does request an item like sheets, IOLS will provide it along with the toys. Children need to have toys for Christmas, she said.

To date, IOLS has received about 2,000 donations but is collecting more through Dec. 10, Sams-Faulkner said.

Donations have come through Mattel, Disney and Toys R Us in Crystal Lake, which let IOLS purchase toys at a discount rate, Obispo-Emery said. She and Sams-Faulkner have reached out to friends who own businesses to encourage employees to donate and have placed bins in businesses around town.

IOLS's role is fulfilling list for agencies that are having trouble getting enough gifts for foster children, she said. Already, IOLS has fulfilled 58 requests from the Department of Children and Family Services in McHenry County and UCAN of McHenry County, both serve foster children. McHenry County has a huge need, Obispo-Emery said.

"What we've done is huge without even reaching out to the community," Sams-Faulkner said.

"The toy drive is something Kristie definitely wanted to go for," Obispo-Emery said. "She was bounced around in foster families so much that she was not able to celebrate the holidays. She wanted to make sure all foster children had a present to open this Christmas."

IOLS will collect toys until Dec. 10. For more information, contact Sams-Faulkner at ksams@itsourlittlesecret.org.